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Connections Community of Practice

Purpose
Connections is a community of practice that assists public health agencies with strategies and planning for integrating information systems essential to improving the health of children. The Public Health Informatics Institute (the Institute) launched Connections in fall 2004 to facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge sharing and problem solving among its 18 participating public health agencies throughout the country.

Public health practitioners often face similar issues when integrating their information systems. Through their interactions in the community of practice, agencies share their experience and avoid “reinventing the wheel” every time they tackle new challenges when integrating information systems.

Project summary
Connections focuses on public health programs that identify children with congenital or genetic conditions and those who may be at risk for adverse health outcomes (e.g., lead exposure). Participants share their strategies, best practices, and lessons learned while collaborating on issues specific to integration of early child health information systems, including newborn dried blood spot screening, vital records, immunization registries, and lead screening programs.

Connections members represent 18 public health agencies in Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, New York City, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington.

With expertise in child health informatics, project management, and communications, Institute staff administer and facilitate the Connections community of practice using a variety of vehicles and technology, including face-to-face meetings, teleconferences, live Webcast presentations, electronic newsletters, and the ConnectionsZone interactive Web site.

Specialized work groups are developing useful, usable toolkits and publications developed by public health practitioners for public health practitioners – to assist them in more effectively integrating their child health information systems to improve the health of children.

Every other month, the Connections newsletter reports on the community’s activities and progress. Members meet in monthly conference calls and face-to-face meetings, ultimately documenting the community’s key findings that are then disseminated to the larger public health community.

Over the next several years, the Connections community of practice will:

conduct monthly conference calls on topics of specific interest to the community.
participate in several face-to-face conferences and workgroup sessions.
create useful products in specialized workgroups to inform the larger public health community.
document its findings in publications such as a topic brief and case study.

Client and funding source
Connections is supported through a cooperative agreement awarded to the Public Health Informatics Institute by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Maternal and Child Health Bureau (HRSA/MCHB).

All Kids Count – a program of the Institute from 1992 until 2004 – was funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to assist state and local public health agencies that were tackling their initial information systems integration projects. In its last three years, All Kids Count hosted the original Connections community of practice. This community brought together 11 state and local public health agencies that were engaged in planning, developing, or implementing the integration of two or more child health information systems.

Connections Community of Practice informational brochure

New Connections Community of Practice Funded by HRSA. (News release, September 21, 2004).

Integration of Newborn Screening and Genetic Services Systems with Other Maternal Child Health Systems: A Sourcebook for Planning and Development (Integration Sourcebook).

Integration of Newborn Screening and Genetic Service Systems with Other Maternal & Child Health Systems: A Tool for Assessment and Planning.

Proceedings: A Vision for Developing Child Health Information Systems to Meet Medical Care and Public Health Needs.

Creating a Road Map: Sharing Knowledge About Integrating Child Health Information Systems
Volume I
Volume II

Read the Connections newsletters

Download recordings of Connections live Webcast presentations

Connections member project briefs

Related links
All Kids Count Connections

Contact: Jim Mootrey, Project Manager, Public Health Informatics Institute